The Government of National Unity is planning a conference on migration entitled “Safe Mediterranean and a Stable South,” to be held on 27 and 28 November in Tripoli, reports Italian news agency Nova.
Citing a “Libyan government source”, Nova reported that the conference will be attended by Labour Ministers from the Sahel and Sahara countries.
The conference, which will also include Italy and the European Union, “marks a paradigm shift” of Libya’s migration policy as “the Libyan authorities want to include and integrate migrants in the Libyan economy,” said Nova.
The Italian agency said this policy shift began on October 25 when Libya signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen legal migration with Bangladesh aimed at “facilitating work procedures” and “improving opportunities”.
According to Nova’s source, the Tripoli-based government intends to offer the same memorandum signed with Bangladesh to the other countries of the Sahel and the Sahara.
The government reportedly presented this plan, without going into details and content, during a round table with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Libya, in the presence of the ambassador of the European Union, Nicola Orlando, and the ambassador of Italy, Gianluca Alberini, and diplomatic representatives from various other countries.